Backstage
A social app concept designed for people with social anxiety, combining dramaturgy and exposure therapy to create a safe offline space through guided activities.
Current problem：
Social anxiety and online isolation
Social anxiety has been increasingly common in recent years, particularly among young people. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), around 15 million adults in the U.S. live with social anxiety disorder, and many of them go untreated for years. As a result, many avoid face-to-face interactions and rely heavily on digital platforms.
However, online interaction doesn’t always lead to emotional support. In fact, too much digital communication can make people feel lonelier. A 2025 study by Bear, Fazel, and Skripkauskaite found that among 8,500 students aged 11–18, 62% reported emotional loneliness despite frequent social media use. Moreover, 35% showed strong symptoms of social anxiety, closely tied to how much time they spent online.
Another study focused on university students revealed that the type of social support they received had a clear impact on their well-being. Students who received mostly offline support had a significantly lower average anxiety score (4.2), compared to those who relied primarily on online communication (average 7.6). In fact, 72% of the latter group reported experiencing “moderate to severe” loneliness.
For people with social anxiety, online communication might feel like a safe space—but it can easily become a trap. The more they avoid real-world socialization, the harder it becomes to form genuine emotional connections. This creates a vicious cycle of isolation, masked by digital over-connection.
Primary research: surveys, Interviews
In my recent primary research, I conducted a survey with 55 participants and followed up with several in-depth interviews to better understand people’s perspectives on online and offline social interaction. The results revealed some clear patterns. About 74% of respondents said that online communication rarely led to meaningful friendships in real life, highlighting a general skepticism toward digital interactions as a foundation for emotional connection. Many also noted that relying too much on online socializing often increased their feelings of loneliness, rather than reducing it.
Additionally, 60.71% agreed that technology has a notable impact on emotional relationships, although they also emphasized that this effect depends heavily on how individuals use it. What stood out more was that 35.71% of respondents felt that face-to-face communication had decreased due to the rising influence of digital platforms—a sign of growing digital dependence.
Interview feedback provided further insights. One 27-year-old woman working in education shared her perspective by saying she only considers people she meets in person as true “friends.” In contrast, she referred to online contacts simply as “digital neighbors.” Her view emphasized the importance of real-life interactions in forming authentic and lasting friendships, suggesting that relationships formed purely online may lack the emotional depth that comes from physical presence.
Taken together, these findings highlight the need for a more supportive kind of social platform—one that gently encourages people to reconnect offline and fills the emotional gaps that many current applications fail to address.